French First Lady Brigitte Macron’s comments spark feminist backlash

Paris – A vulgar slur France’s First Lady used to describe activists has ignited a feminist backlash in a case they say downplays the severity of sexual violence.

A video published on Dec 8 appears to show Mrs Brigitte Macron, 72, describing as “stupid b**ches” (sale connes in French) activists who at the weekend disrupted the show of an actor and comedian accused of – but not charged with – rape.

The First Lady’s office has said her backstage comments on Dec 7 only intended to criticise the “radical method” of the protest a day earlier against 51-year-old Ary Abittan.

But several high-profile actresses have joined in a #SalesConnes trend on social media.

“I’m a stupid b****. And proud to be one,” Oscar-winning La Vie En Rose actress Marion Cotillard posted to her 1.7 million Instagram followers on Dec 9. The hashtag also appeared in the streets of Paris.

“The stupid b**ches send you their regards, Brigitte,” read a message on a wall from the group behind the weekend protest, according to a video it posted on social media.

In another, the #NousToutes (All Of Us) group told the President’s wife that investigators “dropping a case”, as had happened with the allegations against Abittan, was not tantamount to “innocence”.

‘No, not tonight’

Activists on Dec 6 interrupted a stand-up show by the comedian, wearing masks of the actor bearing the word “rapist” and shouting “Abittan rapist”.

A woman who had been seeing him accused him of rape in 2021, saying he had forced her into a sexual act to which she did not consent. But investigators dropped the case in 2023, and an appeals court in January upheld that decision.

“The court found him innocent after an inquiry lasting more than three years,” his lawyer Caroline Toby told AFP.

She said: The “judges who ruled on this case are unanimous that he is innocent. The case is closed.”

The woman who accused Abittan said she had said “no, not tonight” to the sexual act he wanted, and then “cried out in pain” when he ignored her.

Investigating magistrates, who decided in July 2023 not to press charges, recognised that she suffered from “undeniable” post-traumatic stress.

But they argued that the probe “contradicted” some of her statements, notably citing former girlfriends who described the comedian as a respectful partner.

French prosecutors in 2024 dropped six out of 10 rape or sexual assault cases for not being strong enough to go to court, according to a government report in November.

It was not immediately clear how many cases are then thrown out by investigating magistrates.

‘Legitimise hatred’

A member of the First Lady’s team argued that her words should be seen as “a critique of the radical method employed by those who disrupted the show”.

But Greve Feministe, a collective of around 60 feminist groups whose name translates as Feminist Strike, demanded a public apology.

Mrs Macron’s comments “are not trivial”, they said in a statement.

“They legitimise hatred towards feminists – who are already the targets of cyberbullying, death threats and assaults – and they downplay the severity of sexual violence by reducing the denunciation of crimes to a mere ‘disturbance of public order’.”

Mrs Macron has herself been the victim of gender-related cyberbullying. She and President Emmanuel Macron have filed a defamation lawsuit in the US over a false claim online that she was born male, and she is suing several people in France over the same rumour.

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, France has been rocked by a series of accusations of rape and sexual assault against well-known cultural figures.

Screen icon Gerard Depardieu was in May convicted of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021, and is to stand trial charged with raping an actress in 2018. He denies any wrongdoing.

President Macron in 2023 defended Depardieu, saying the actor was the target of a “manhunt” and he stood behind the presumption of innocence. AFP